Today we're excited to announce the recipients of one of our most popular awards: the America's Classics! This honor is given to regional establishments, often family-owned, that are treasured for their quality food, local character, and lasting appeal. Read on to learn more about our 2015 America's Classics. These awards will be bestowed at the James Beard Awards Gala at Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, May 4.

Archie’s Waeside, Le Mars, IA (Owner: Robert Rand)

Set in what was once a roadhouse bar, Archie’s is a citadel of American beef cookery. Seated in a commodious booth, in a dining room accented with Christmas tchotchkes, regulars drink perfect Manhattans, snack on handmade onion rings and well-curated relish trays... Read more >

Searching for the best small-batch, artisanal products to add to your pantry? Our staff scoured the market for you, and we've been featuring their picks all month long. For our final staff pick, see what executive vice president Mitchell Davis has to say about one of his favorite cocktail ingredients.

“Although I’m not generally looking for an excuse to drink a gin and tonic, such an excuse is exactly what Jack Rudy’s lemongrass-tinged tonic concentrate provides. Its handsome, neoclassical bottle beckons from the fridge, saying, ‘Not only will I be delicious, but also I’ll bring that old- fashioned malaria cure into today’s modern mixology milieu."

We're excited to announce our partnership with Simmer, a new app that allows you to generate step-by-step recipe videos that you can create, watch, and share from your very own kitchen. In the coming weeks and months, we'll share instructional videos that will teach you how to create tantalizing dishes from JBF Award winners, Beard House chefs, and even Beard himself, all prepared in James Beard's historic New York City kitchen.

Searching for the best small-batch, artisanal products to add to your pantry? Our staff scoured the market for you, and we'll be featuring their picks all month long. Today we spotlight Elizabethan Pantry's Apple Curd with Cinnamon, which has found a fan in JBF assistant editor Maggie Borden.

“The Truffle Cafe at Pike Place Market offers a wide variety of oils, jams, mustards, and more, but my favorite product is the Apple Curd with Cinnamon, made by Elizabethan Pantry. The company exclusively puts out products popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but I’m hoping this curd makes a cultural comeback. It’s perfect on toast and scones, it’s rich and spreadable with a crisp apple flavor, and it adds a little historical flair to your everyday breakfast. It would also be delicious mixed in with fresh fruit for a crisp or pie!”

Using a passport should be your first cooking lesson.

Go out and get inspired. Then come back and use that technique with your local products.

Free yourself from trying to invent something.

I’ve never invented anything and I’ve never met anyone who has. Everyone is deeply inspired by something that came before. If you free yourself from trying to invent something, you become part of that great lineage of burnt tarts.

Consider the source.

Don’t make fresh pasta with flour from the deli that’s been o... Read more >

Searching for the best small-batch, artisanal products to add to your pantry? Our staff scoured the market for you, and we'll be featuring their picks all month long. Below, senior editor Anna Mowrytells us about her essential fish sauce.

“If you made a Venn diagram that overlapped sweet, salty, and umami, this bottle would sit right in the middle of it. BLiS, a Michigan-based gourmet purveyor, ages Vietnam’s Red Boat 40ºN Fish Sauce in charred barrels for seven months, which produces a beautifully rich and smoky condiment that’s unlike any other fish sauce out there. Try it in your favorite Thai or Vietnamese recipes, drizzle it on grilled meats and fish, or, if you’re like me, just savor a spoonful straight out of the bottle.”

Calling all chefs: are you interested in participating in the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, the largest global gathering about food in history? The pavilion's theme is American Food 2.0, and since chefs have had a large part in shaping the evolution of food in America, we're giving them a special place in the festivities.

If you're a chef who would like to join us for this once-in-a-lifetime occasion, be sure to mark your calendars for the American Chef Rally at the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano on July 21, 2015. We're inviting chefs from across the country to meet us in Milan for a special day to celebrate their role in influencing American cuisine. We're in the process of creating some exclusive programming just for these attendees, such as private USA Pavilion tours and field trips to Milan-based artisans and producers.